Hello to one and all. It’s lovely to be back chewing the fat with all of you once again and as always I hope this finds you in the best of health. Now I know that as we look across borders the pandemic situation is very different from one country to another, but here in Scotland chinks of light are starting to split the clouds as real life starts to rear itself from a long slumber with shops, restaurants and outdoor bar areas up and running again. Things improved a few weeks ago with all bar Glasgow seeing a dram poured indoors again and with Glasgow joining us from midnight on Friday, so we are closer than ever to sharing a dram or six with our nearest and dearest again. To say that puts a smile on many faces is an understatement!

So the month of May and now half of June has been a busy time for us and the best place to start is with the release of our forth outturn of Dràm Mòr single cask, cask strength whiskies. Now, before I get a landslide of two or three enquires, this 6 cask outturn (single grain Dumbarton omitted in the pic) was sold out nearly three months ago thanks to our distributors and we thank them all for the continued support and faith they show in us. We are, however, still very much struggling on the UK front, but the plans for later in the year is to start having a UK exclusive release, which will come out along side the global release, so if I can ask just a little more patience I would be extremely grateful. Pic credits our Brand Manager Joanne Smith.

In other news our good friend David Rogers at HBH Brewery in Belgium has just taken receipt of a whole load of new, freshly tipped Dràm Mòr casks, which by now will have some of the most delicious Belgian beer resting in them. 6-9 months will tell us quite how good these beers will be, but I can guarantee that I will be at the front of the queue! If you are looking for HBH beers, the label sample is below:

A very different bit of news to report next as we enter into the world of fine art. Now many of you will have been stuck working from home as we have for the last 15 months and during those 15 months the four walls that we stare at start to get a bit overbearing. With that in mind we took the plunge of commission a painting for the Dràm Mòr office. Now as you all know we’re are very fortunate to have as part of the team, a wonderfully gifted young artist in the shape of Miss Iveta Smitdaite. Now the room is so much better to work in. It’s a real statement and we just love it!

Onto the review front and we have a mixed bag although not of the positive/negative way but one from a whisky past and one from a whisky on its way. Firstly, many thanks to our friends at whisky fun with a glowing review from Angus McRaild of Whiskyfun who took the time to look at our 9 year old Glenrothes Muscatel finish. Have a wee read and see what Angus found within the depths of this dram. Second up, we turn to a real stalwart of Dràm Mòr and one of our biggest supporters, Mr Rod Morrison. When I send samples to Rod, I do so in the knowledge that they are in incredibly good hands and I can trust him to give us an honest critic of our drams. This month we share Rod’s insight into our 13 year old Secret Orkney finished in Fijian rum on our Facebook. It’s not a bad cask even if I do say so myself.

I had only the one tasting in May, but it was a belter and off to Holland I virtually skipped to enjoy a glass or two with many an old pal as well as some new ones as my great pal Rob Vengrow gathered 22 dram masters to take a snifter of our last two runs. The only down side was that these are bottles I don’t have anymore so it was a tough one from my side but I took great comfort in watching everyone else enjoy our wares (softened by a few beers and a good few half’s of some more up to date stuff on my side). Many thanks Rob for delivering such a well organised tasting and I’m already looking forward to the next one with the Big Man and co. Last is to round up the social media side of things as always. First on the virtual roll of honour this months is my wee pal Nadia Tosheva who found a very different vantage point to take in a dram of ours. A world first as Dràm Mòr takes a wander over Tower Bridge in the Big Smoke of London. Nadia is another person who has shown us great support so a massive thanks to her and all at the SE23 Whisky Club. We have put bottles aside for the next one Nadia so you’ll need to walk more whisky for us! I’m staying down South for the next mention and it’s a massive thanks to Mr Nick Gascoyne at Whisk(e)y safe. Your absolutely right mate. That Glen Garioch was indeed a Honey Monster 😂 Many more monsters to come! One more mention and that’s for my pal Bart Ottevaere who was kind enough to to include a throwback dram in his tasty wee line up. There’s not many folk out there who can still lay their hands on a 14 year old Ben Nevis bottled for The Whisky Mercenary but that’s exactly what showed up to our surprise. Delighted not only to see it but to hear that it hit the spot Bart so many thanks.

Well I’m nearly done for yet another look back at the month that was but there’s one thing still to mention… I said earlier on that for our home based Dràm Mòr fans have seen our bottles near impossible to find. Well, I can point to one place that has every bottle we’ve ever produced. If you have never set foot inside The Artisan restaurant in the town of Wishaw and yet still claim to be a whisky fan then it’s high time you put this to rights. In this Aladdin’s cave for whisky lovers your hosts Fiona & Derek Mather will not only be able to provide you with just about any Scotch whisky under the sun but they will feed you like no other. Honestly, you need The Artisan in your life!

Well I could go on and drop a few secrets about what June has in store for us, but that would be cheating so as we bid a fond fair well to May I’ll sign off as always with a reminder that without you guys we’re nothing. We are continually reminded of the love and support that we have out there and it not only humbles us but gives us all the reasons we need to roll our sleeves up and keep working to bring you the best Scotland has to offer. From Viktorija, Ruaraidh and yours truly we wish you a great June. Take care, stay safe and look after each other.

Slàinte!

Kenny